TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. MONDAY, 19th OCTOBER, 1936. ACTIVITY AND EXCHANGE.

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3823, 19 October 1936, Page 4

TE AWAMUTU COURIER. Printed on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. MONDAY, 19th OCTOBER, 1936. ACTIVITY AND EXCHANGE.

NO single instance reflects the change in Government policy more than the sending of the trade emissaries to England; in this one event the change in the atmosphere is noticeable. Between Mr Nash’s going and the time when the earlier delegations left these shores the change is vital and far-reaching, and is definitely indicated by the circumstances which reach to the root of Government policy. Having by a series of steps implemented proposals for a revival of spending power, the present Government is able to send Mr Nash overseas to effect purchases as well as sales. Having forced a higher level of internal spending in New Zealand, and at the same time inaugurated vigorous activity in public works, the present Government has revived activity, and must now

enter the industrial markets as a buyer. It would be difficult to estimate the precise sum that will measure the import needs of this country, but it was cautiously mentioned in one semi-official statement that Mr Nash would confront the British manufacturers with a potential demand for £6,000,000 worth of orders to be drawn from the workshops of Great Britain. Virtually, then, his line of approach is strengthened by the advantages which only a customer knows. “I am here to buy ”is what he can announce on his arrival in Britain, thereby at once establishing for himself a front seat in the market. From this vantage point he can then proceed to elaborate on terms, and, by dangling his prospective orders with discretion, he can begin the processes of barter for an adequate level of exchange for this Dominion’s primary products. Under such favoured conditions the seller is at no serious disadvantage—all that remains for the buyer is that he shall bargain for the best possible terms. It is but fair to admit that neither Mr Forbes nor Mr Coates shared the opportunities which have fallen to Mr Nash. In their day retrenchment was directed, and their task resolved itself into an effort to restore the international ledger to a more economic balance. After many years of borrowing and spending, New Zealand had come to the day of reckoning, and sent them to London to try to barter this country’s produce in payment of what might popularly be described as a “dead horse” of debt. They had to try to sell where they could no longer buy an equivalent in the exchanges. Mr Nash had the stage arranged for him before he even sailed from these shores, and his going may be regarded as the closing scene in the politico-economic drama which has been so patiently rehearsed in Wellington since the beginning of the year. The creation of spending power is the whole theme, and now, as the story reveals itself, comes the practical utilisation of a buyer’s market. Much may be hoped for from Mr Nash’s mission; indeed, on it the whole fate of Government policy depends. Normally, under the guiding rule that the interests of buyer and seller are inter-related, the future augurs well; but whether Britain will greet Mr Nash favourably in so far as he must be forced to admit guarantees and subsidies, and in all, an enforced price level in this Dominion —whether, from the English agricultural outlook these tendencies shall be regarded as a dreaded dumping process—as at yet an unanswered contingency which can and may arise; but it is unwise to dwell too largely on the dangers. Better far that hope should be encouraged—the hope that inspires the belief that the exchange mechanism will function smoothly, and that greater outlets shall be provided for the exportable surpluses from New Zealand, so that a renewal of activity and spending shall rely less heavily on a future that would in any other circumstances become more uncertain than ever.